Page 148 of The Final Cut

Left.

Straight.

Right.

Another right that takes us past a closed restaurant with chairs stacked upside down on tables behind fogged glass.

The sedan remains behind us, closer now. I grip the edge of the seat until my fingers ache. “Shiloh.”

“I see it.”

“Isabel?”

“Likely.”

The word is almost calm. I don’t like that he’s only almost calm. It means he is saving the rest for driving.

Ever comes back on the line. “Two Blackwood vehicles are moving from the hotel. One from Rampart, one from Tchoup. Nash is on.”

A click, then Nash’s voice fills the car, low and lethal. “Reva.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you hit?”

“Nobody’s done any shooting, Nash.”

“Well, they might. Stay low if Shiloh tells you.”

“I know this; I’m not an idiot.”

“Do it anyway.”

The sedan closes another car length.

Shiloh turns hard enough that my shoulder hits the door. Tires hiss over wet pavement. The SUV straightens, then lunges forward down a darker street lined with shuttered businesses and dripping awnings. Traffic thins. That feels worse. In traffic, there are witnesses. Here, there are only rain, brick, and the car behind us no longer pretending it is anything but interested.

The sedan accelerates.

My breath shortens.

I watch it in the mirror because looking away feels like we’re just letting it get closer. A shape shifts on the passenger side. Window lowering. Arm emerging.

“Down,” Shiloh says.

I fold forward.

“Shit,” Nash says over the speaker. “Shit…fuck⁠—”

The first shot hits the rear windshield with a flat, violent crack.

The glass holds.

I scream anyway, a short sound I despise before it even leaves my mouth. Shiloh swerves, sending the SUV across the lane as another shot snaps off the rear glass and ricochets away. The seat belt bites into my shoulder. My knees slam the dash. Somewhere in the car, Ever is talking, Nash is giving clipped orders, and Shiloh is breathing through his nose like the whole world has narrowed to mirrors, traction, and not getting me killed.

“Stay down, Yank.”

“I am. I am!”